Chapter 188 reputation

Hu Shi talked about Western culture to China and Chinese culture to the West.Facing China, he actively introduced the basic values ​​of Western liberalism, such as democracy and the rule of law, and maintained them throughout his life; facing the West, he constantly proposed the coordination between Chinese culture and modern democracy, freedom, scientific rational spirit, as an argument that China does not lose to other spiritual civilizations .Russell said that Hu Shi "is willing to absorb all the advantages of Western culture, but he is not a blind admirer of Western culture". In August 1946, Hu Shi became the president of Peking University. Feng Youlan said at the welcome meeting: "Mr. The right person has been chosen."

Yin Haiguang complained that no matter whether he has been educated or not, he expects to gain fame by criticizing Hu Bao.As a result, "the forces from the left want to clean up and brainwash Hu Shi's thoughts, and then they must eradicate them quickly. The forces from the right, when they mention Hu Shi's thoughts, they have indigestion, and they try every means to erase Hu Shi's thoughts from people's memory." . Historian Yu Yingshi pointed out that Hu Shih’s thought and the so-called Hu Shih cult (The Hu Shih Cult), which were worshiped as idols by young people, were not caused by political authority, but a symbol of the psychology of challenging authority; He is the only thinker whose ideas and speeches can be all the rage without the backing of a gun, and who can turn all living beings upside down ideologically."But also because of this, no matter the left or right, the two sides of the strait, or even radical or conservative, they all have trouble with Hu Shi's thinking.Throughout his life, in the face of distrust, pressure and blockade from politics, and finally died of depression, it is the original sin bestowed by this revolutionary force.

Ji Xianlin said: "In the modern history of China, Hu Shi is a figure who has played an important role but is very controversial." Liu Wendian's "What is the Communication between Chinese and Western Academics" mentioned Hu Shi: "My friend Hu Shizhi wrote an "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy". The value of this book can really be regarded as an Epoch Making in modern China ( Even the history of Western philosophy written by Westerners, only the German Windelband (Windelband) and the American Thilly (Tillie) have written books as good as him."

Liu Cunren's "Remembering the Professors of Peking University" recorded Hu Shi: "Mr. Hu Shizhi's conversation is lovely. I heard that he has been listed as one of the top ten orators in the world." The outline of his speech is clear, and because he is able to give full play to the orator's demeanor, posture, and the cadence of the Mandarin that can make Jixi, Anhui, as much as possible. And because he is a person with a pure scholarly atmosphere, his tone of voice when speaking Always very warm and sincere, with a natural stupidity, so it is particularly touching."

After Hu Shi passed away, a grand funeral was held in Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek came to pay his respects in person, and wrote the elegiac couplet himself—a model of old morality in new culture, a teacher of new ideas in old ethics. Liang Hancao pulled Hu Shi back: "Writing a book has 200,000 words, which is not enough; if you can slander all over the world, your name will follow." Hu Shi's achievements in advocating the study of vernacular Chinese and red studies are universally recognized.After Hu Shi's death, someone wrote a couplet saying: "Mr. has gone. If Huang Quan meets Cao Xueqin, ask him about the Dream of the Red Chamber? The younger generations know that Hu Shi is lucky to teach people to write in vernacular."

When Shen Congwen talked about Mr. Hu Shi, the former dean of Peking University's School of Liberal Arts, he said: "Mr. Shizhi's biggest attempt was not his new poem "Experimental Collection". This is his boldest attempt!" When Cai Yuanpei was the president of Peking University, he took "freedom of thought and inclusiveness" as his school-running policy, and hired Hu Shi, who was only 26 years old, as a professor at Peking University. Xu Fuguan said: Hu Shi is a great scholar. Yin Haiguang said: Hu Shi is a big wish. Cai Yuanpei said of Hu Shi: "Old learning is profound, and new knowledge is profound."

Peking University students have always been critical of their teachers. Peking University student Gu Jiegang introduced Fu Sinian to listen to Hu Shi's class in order to decide whether to expel this new student from the Department of Philosophy at Peking University.After Fu Sinian attended several lectures, he commented on Hu Shi: "Although this man doesn't read many books, he is on the right path. You can't make trouble." So Hu Shi stayed in the Department of Philosophy of Peking University. In 1921, Liang Qichao compiled the annotations of the work "Mozi" into four volumes of "Mo Jing Xiaoshi", and sent Hu Shi to write the preface.In this long preface, Hu Shi praised Ren Gong's contribution, but also put forward his own views.Ren Gong often said: "There are many talents in Jixi, and recently there is Hu Shizhi."

The poet Yu Guangzhong believes that "the importance of Hu Shi and others in new poetry is mostly historical, not aesthetic." Speaking of Mr. Hu Shi, who is so famous, Professor Sang Bing of the History Department of Sun Yat-sen University will feel a little bit of regret and wonder: academic leaders are not famous for their academics, after all, it is embarrassing. Zhu Xueqin said: "I can't get rid of Lu Xun's inner feelings, but I want to follow Hu Shi's goal... I know that Hu Shi's choice is more correct than Lu Xun's intellectually... But in terms of personal feelings, I really can't get rid of Lu Xun's darkness. Lu Xun's 'ghost energy'." He also said that Hu Shi is food and Lu Xun is medicine, which means that Hu Shi can't live without him for a day, and Lu Xun is only useful when there is a problem.

On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, Japanese political commentator Takanobu Fushiro came to China to visit Hu Shi and said: "The Japanese people only know that there are three celebrities in China, one is Chiang Kai-shek, one is Mei Lanfang, and the other is Hu Shi." The transcript of the conversation was published in a publication called Asia Insider. Lu Xun said that Hu Shi gave him the impression that "the door was closed tightly, and a small note was pasted on the door saying: 'There are no weapons inside, please don't worry about it.' This can of course be true, but some people—at least me Such a person—sometimes it is inevitable to turn your head and think."

Mr. Li Shenzhi once said: "The 20th century is the century of Lu Xun, and the 21st century is the century of Hu Shi." Mr. Tang Degang gave him a very high evaluation in the book "Hu Shi's Miscellaneous Memories": Mr. Hu Shizhi's greatness is that he was originally the founder of my country's New Culture Movement, but after fifty years of testing, he has not lost his reputation. In extreme, also not out of date.Has consistently maintained his unbiased mainstay status.Be the first to open up the atmosphere, and be the leader of the apricot altar; seek truth from facts, set an example, and lead our ancient civilization to the road of modernization.Having been familiar with the history of Chinese culture for nearly a hundred years, I still think Mr. Hu is the number one person in our time!

Tang Degang believes that Hu Shi's position in the history of Chinese literature can be compared with that of Han Yu, who "went up and down for eight generations".He also commented on Hu Shi's personality: "...Among these famous Confucian scholars, most of those who have Mr. Hu's qualifications are not as hardworking as Mr. Hu; those who work as hard as Mr. Hu are mostly not as talented as Mr. Hu; Hu Shizhi’s relatives are not as good as his virtue, popularity, and smell. These are Hu Shizhi’s excellences, and they are not accidental.” Tang Degang said: "Hu Shizhi has what Westerners call 'magnetic personality' (magnetic personality), which cannot be summed up by adjectives such as 'approachable' and 'friendly' in Chinese. The social function of a person with natural endowment in the social life of human beings is like the magnetic field produced by a magnetic object in the physical world. The magnitude of the gravitational force it produces in society depends on its influence in society high and low; the higher the influence, the greater the range". Yin Haiguang and others criticized Hu Shi, questioned his academic achievements, questioned his good name, and questioned his desire to be the "father of the Renaissance" in China.However, Yin Haiguang also said that summing up the ups and downs of China's national destiny over the past few decades, "the time when Chinese people tolerated and absorbed Hu Shi's thoughts more was the time when China was relatively peaceful, stable, progressive, and tending towards enlightenment"; The time of rejection and jealousy is also the time when the fate of the country is perverted, when disasters are like hemp, and when it tends to become obstinate."The role played by Hu Shih in history is indeed a kind of "modern enlightenment teacher of the drowsy China", and this enlightenment force urges the Chinese to "reassess all values", even including Including Hu Shi's own ideas, he can become the source of internal stability and upward advancement in an open society; he also shows the value of ideas, because ideas cannot be defeated by power, and ideas can only be proved by the test of time and practice ingredients of truth.